The Baby of Their Dreams (Contemporary Medical Romance) by Carol Marinelli Page A

mistake—surely this was something he should have been doing with Heather—and yet, seeing his baby on the screen, thinking of Cat...
    It didn’t feel like a mistake.
    It felt right.
    Was there a chance for them?
    Could strangers who had shared just a night have got it so right that they could spend the rest of their lives together?
    Cautious with his emotions, it had taken years to get around to getting engaged to Heather.
    They had gone out for more than two years before they’d moved in together.
    Another three years before they’d got married.
    And they hadn’t been ready to even start trying for a baby before Heather had been taken ill.
    He flicked on his social media site and saw that Cat had accepted his friend request and it was Dominic who snooped.
    She had the most boring page ever.
    He found out nothing new about her, other than that her star sign was Virgo and that her friends wrote on her wall more than she did.
    No mention of Spain, no lovers’ names.
    Nothing.
    He wanted to know more, though, and even if they needed to be concentrating on the baby, somehow they had to make time for them, and that was why he changed his status.
    Not single.
    Not in a relationship.
    It’s complicated
sounded about right, so that, for now, would do.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    ‘Y OU SOUND OUT of breath,’ Dominic commented.
    It was Thursday night, a few days since they’d met, and Cat had only just arrived home when she answered her phone and it was him.
    ‘That’s because I just took my boots off.’ She sighed. ‘Which is no mean feat these days.’
    ‘I’m just calling to let you know what you probably do already—Andrew called this afternoon while I was flying back from Spain and left a cheery message, asking me to call him. So it sounds like I got the job.’
    ‘You did,’ Cat said, flicking on the kettle.
    ‘Do you have an issue with that?’
    ‘I did,’ she admitted, ‘but I don’t now.’
    ‘He’s also asked if I can start a couple of weeks before I officially take up your position. Do you have an issue with that?’
    ‘A bit,’ she admitted, ‘but I’ll get over it. How was Spain?’
    ‘Still beautiful.’
    ‘How were your parents with the news?’
    ‘Elated.’
    ‘Oh!’
    ‘Invasive.’
    ‘Okay.’ She let out a laugh. ‘It’s not just them. Honestly, people think they can ask me the most personal questions and as for touching my bump...’ She shuddered.
    ‘I promise not to touch your bump uninvited.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘I’m coming down this weekend and I’ll be looking at houses. I’m just checking you’re not planning on moving in the near future...’
    Cat was silent. He really had meant it when he’d said he wanted to be around for his child.
    ‘No, I have no plans to move. Well, I might need a bigger house but I shan’t be leaving the area.’ She thought for a moment. ‘You’re not going to move too close, though? I mean...’
    ‘I don’t want to be your neighbour, Cat. Just close enough to make things easier on both of us. I was going to rent but I’ve been doing that for a couple of years. I want to give her a proper base.’
    ‘Sounds good. While I’ve got you on the phone I actually do have a couple of questions,’ she said.
    She had quite a list actually.
    ‘Can they keep till the weekend?’ he asked. ‘I’m a bit swamped right now.’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘We can go out for dinner and discuss things.’
    And if he could be so brusque and direct, without apology, then so too could she.
    ‘I don’t want to go out,’ she said, because she’d had to swap to get this weekend off and there was a lot to be done. By evening all she would be ready for was a night flopped on the sofa. ‘I don’t want to discuss my private life in a restaurant. You can come here.’
    ‘Okay, don’t worry about cooking, though.’
    ‘Oh, I shan’t.’
    ‘Saturday, about six?’ Dominic checked. ‘I’ll come when I’ve finished looking through houses.’
    ‘Whenever,’ Cat